Evaluating telemarketing firms

There are many factors to evaluate when comparing potential telemarketing firms. Some may be more or less important to your business, but they should all be weighed during your purchasing process.

Price
Overall pricing is the first item many companies use to select a telemarketing firm. Unfortunately, for some companies, it is the only item. As we stated in the introduction, choosing a service provider to interact directly with hundreds or thousands of your prospects and customers should be treated as a partnership building, not a bargain-shopping, expedition.

Do your best to get apples-to-apples price quotes from the companies you are considering: either per-minute or per dedicated rep rates, and monthly minimums. Remember that training and setup costs can be substantial, especially if they involve international travel.

Experience
Look for a telemarketing firm with significant experience providing outsourced telemarketing services.

Startups can be fine if their management has significant experience in the industry, but it is likely safer for you to choose a company that has existing customers and a solid reputation. Industry veterans know the importance of good infrastructure - phone systems, computers, and software - as well as how to adapt with the times.

You may also want to look for firms with experience in your exact industry. This can reduce the amount of training needed and help launch your program more quickly - but of course is no guarantee of success.

Sales reps
Whether they are called agents, phone staff, or telephone sales representatives (TSRs), the quality of the employees who actually make your calls is absolutely essential to your bottom line. Ask about their payment structure and the minimum hiring requirements to get a sense of how the company values their employees.

One good indicator of quality is how long the average employee stays with the company. An average tenure of less than a year can be a warning sign. The percentage of TSRs with a long tenure, over three years, can also be a tip-off: 35% to 50% is a good threshold to seek. Ask about the provider's commitment to staff training and promoting from within; employees who have growth opportunities are more likely to stay with their current job.

Additional services
You should make sure you choose among telemarketing firms who can provide an overall level of support sufficient to your needs. Make sure the account manager who handles your case understands your industry and your business, since he or she will be your day-to-day point of contact. If you need script development help, investigate the vendor's process and ask to see sample scripts they developed for other customers.

Reporting is another important aspect of the provider's offering. Without detailed, accurate reporting, judging results becomes next to impossible. Before discussing reporting in detail with potential vendors, gather input from your staff regarding the statistics that are important to them and how often they are needed. You should also decide if getting finished reports is sufficient for your needs, or if you want the telemarketing firm to provide data in a common format (comma separated, Excel format, etc) so you can run your own analyses.

• Some types of reports you may want:
• Total sales and revenue, plus breakdowns over time
• Sales and revenue per list
• Sales and revenue per rep
• Call duration
• Handling time
• Calls per time
• Revenue

The ability to monitor calls is another area where telemarketing firms differ. Some require that you call one of their managers, who will then "piggyback" you onto an agent's call so you can hear how effective they are. Others let you dial in to their phone system directly and listen to whomever you wish without any assistance or even notification.

Finally, make sure the vendor has adequate data security measures in place. Since they will be responsible for your valuable customer data, you need some guarantees that it will remain safe and secure.